Principals Newsletter – School Opening
We are off to a great start for this school year, except for the weather of course. I would like to update you with some of the events that occurred over the summer and some of the plans for this school year.
Learning Improvement Plan
Last year we set two specific goals for our school - the first in writing and the second in math. Our students showed progress in writing, but we did not achieve the specific goal we set. However, there was some discrepancy with the specific writing assessments. Hence our results were somewhat inconclusive. Our students continue to demonstrate consistent writing processes, but need to improve in final product development. We will continue to work with our students in the writing process, focusing on the final product.
We also set a specific goal with mathematics. Our teachers developed and conducted grade level assessments last year focusing on basic skills. Our students showed improvement over the year. This correlated with our AFL results as well, which are provincial assessments. Overall, our students are showing overall growth in math skills over the past two years.
Although not a specific goal, we also did some work with attendance. This culminated with a focus group held last March, which was a tremendous success. Our attendance is strong, but we feel we can improve. Through various communication strategies and data collection, we hope to accomplish this. We have made attendance a specific goal for this year.
Our work plan also included work in many other areas. I have attached a summary of this plan at the end of this newsletter. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at school.
Facility Development
Our facility has undergone many renovations over the last six months. Construction of a new washroom, roof renovation and daycare were major highlights. New flooring was installed in the middle year’s resource room, hallway and staff washrooms. The high school hallway saw the remainder of the orange lockers removed and new matching blue lockers installed
Technology
Prairie Valley School
D. Bircher
We are excited with some of the new purchases to support the learning plan. Upgrades include the installation of six SMART Boards and one SMART Table. All classrooms and one computer lab are now equipped with SMART technology.
PVSD also has provided thirty Netbook computers, to be predominantly used in elementary and middle year’s classrooms. The acquisition of this equipment helps us in developing a solid learning program for students of the 21st century.
Our school’s website is active and will gradually increase with more information over time. We encourage parents to check the website for information on a regular basis. One new feature is the school blog. When posts are published, parents also have the ability to leave comments regarding the particular topic.
We also have a Twitter page. To access regular updates just sign up for a Twitter account and follow @montsaskschool.
We hope to utilize social media to increase communication with parents and community, as well as model proper use.
Staff
Our school would like to welcome the following new staff: Gr. 6 - Candy Lugrin, Support staff – Stacey Romanow and Amber Wood.
Extra-Curricular
We have a full slate of activities for students to participate in. Volleyball, cross-country, and golf are now in progress along with Yearbook and craft club. Research has proven that students who participate in extra-curricular usually achieve higher, so encourage your children to get involved!
Equipment/Learning Aids
Our school received a tremendous amount of equipment this past summer, courtesy of PVSD. New purchases in Physical Education, Practical and Applied Arts, Math, Science and Students Services will help us support the Learning Improvement Plan. We will post updates to our blog and “tweet” them as well.
Nutrition
Playground
The SCC and SRC purchased three picnic tables and three garbage receptacles this past year. These will be installed on our playgrounds as soon as possible.
We have consulted with PVSD regarding upgrades to our middle years’ playground. We hope to meet with a landscape architect as soon as possible to begin planning for new upgrades.
Welcome Back BBQ
We will have the annual BBQ and Terry Fox Run on Friday October 1st. Students are taking pledges to raise money for this worthwhile cause. We welcome parents and community members to participate in the BBQ and run.
Busing
All busing requests received by the school were issued to PVSD prior to school opening. If parents have any questions regarding transportation please contact the Grenfell office at 697-2441. If students are not riding the bus on a particular day, please contact the driver in advance. For student’s safety, please do not park in the bus lane or alongside buses or on the north side of the school. Students walk the shortest distance and we do not want them walking between vehicles of any kind.
If you would like to have this correspondence emailed to you, please contact the school. This will be posted to the school website as well. http://montmartre.pvsd.ca
I hope you found this correspondence informative and helpful. My best wishes to all for an enjoyable school year.
D. Bircher
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